Wisdom of the Evergreen

I grew up on the shores of Lake Superior where the mood of the lake and the changing of the seasons governed our lives. The deciduous trees with their cycle of bud, abundance, beauty, letting go and laying fallow accompanied my childhood. By late autumn every year I found the landscape and its seeming emptiness to be difficult and draining.

Reflecting back, I don’t know why the evergreen trees and their constant contribution of colour didn’t have an impact on me.

Recently I have realized what a gift these magnificent evergreen giants are in the winter landscape for my inner life. It is as if I have woken up to their ongoing presence and realized that the winter is far from empty – it is not bare.

Evergreen trees have been teaching me the importance of endurance. I am learning that life needs some aspect of stability. I don’t have to be a tree that is on a constant cycle of letting go. I can embrace the fact that life is good and allow that to be my constant guide.